Yorkshire comedian Maisie Adam has been one of the more talked-about names on the UK comedy circuit in the last few years. Her new show, which you can see at Cardiff Glee Club this month, is titled Buzzed, which is what Carl Marsh was to talk to her.
I’ve been reading your reviews from the Edinburgh Fringe, where you’ve been doing your new show Buzzed. Nothing but four and five-star reviews! That must be giving you that extra boost ahead of taking it on tour.
Maisie Adam: It’s been really lovely. I’ve been pleasantly surprised, I guess, by the reception of it because obviously, this show Buzzed is the one I’m going on tour with. Prior to Edinburgh, I’ve only been doing work-in-progress shows, so to have it nicely received up here where there’s everything else on as well. So it’s a nice little confidence boost for the tour.
Caught any shows by peers you rate highly, or plan to see if you’ve got the time?
Maisie Adam: I like to go and see my mates, or other comedians I’m coming up through the ranks with, to support their work – but I also enjoy taking a chance to see something I’d never normally see. So I do tend to take a fly on someone on the Royal Mile and check it out, and who knows what it’ll be – but yeah, it’s good so far. I’ve seen Colin Hoult’s show, which is maybe the most I’ve ever laughed at any show before. He was just brilliant. I went to see Dan Tiernan, who I was coming up through the competitions with when I first started. And he’s doing his first show. That was great. There’s just so much on that I go and see loads of stuff.
You mention coming up through the competitions, but comedy wasn’t your first love. It was acting, which you’ve got a BA in. I know it’s not as diverse as having gone to medical school, like Simon Brodkin did, but still, you can always go back to it…
Maisie Adam: I think with acting, Carl, I really enjoyed it, and always got cast in the funny roles anyway. I liked that immediate feedback you get when you’re playing a funny role – if you’re doing it well, you can hear people laughing – but you’re still not saying your jokes or your lines, as much as playing funny roles is good. But sometimes you’d get cast in something where the script wasn’t great, or the director or the rest of the cast weren’t pulling their weight. With standup, it’s all on you. I guess I like that independence and creative control over everything. And as you say, I can still go back to acting. I still enjoy it. But comedy is my favourite by a mile.
Well, you’re very good at it. And it’s one of those professions where if you were shit at it, you wouldn’t be getting many gigs and selling out venues!
Maisie Adam: Exactly, it would be very awkward. [Laughs] And that’s it – if you do acting and have a bad show, you can go, “alright, well the scripts were bad. The other actors were devaluing the performance. The stage set wasn’t very good.” You can blame it on many factors that aren’t you. Whereas with comedy, if it’s not going well, there’s something you’ve not addressed – your material, or you’ve not clocked the vibe of the room and you’ve turned the atmosphere odd.
Sometimes there are just bad gigs, but there are also times where you’ve turned up to gigs and it shouldn’t have worked – but you’re able to make it work. And I think that’s your job as a comedian. I quite like that, really: that thing where if it goes well, you get all the praise. And if it doesn’t, it’s on you!
Maisie Adam, Glee Club, Cardiff Bay, Wed 28 Sept. Tickets: £15. Info: here
words CARL MARSH
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